In the field of medicine, there are courses of treatment for diseases and injuries which are facilitated by placement of a therapeutic device within a body cavity, in a particular relation to a selected, or a predetermined, region thereof, or adjacent tissue, for delivering a therapeutic dosage. For instance, in oncology, particularly for the treatment of mouth and/or throat cancers, and more generally cancers of the head and/or throat, breast and prostate, and also non-cancerous diseases, such as non-malignant tumors and neuromas, therapeutic benefit has been achieved by brachytherapy, that is, the placement of radioactive elements, also referred to as radioactive seeds, in proximity to, or surgically directly in the cancer or cancerous or other diseased tissue, for directing radiation thereat. However, a side effect that has been observed is relatively uncontrolled irradiation of the surrounding tissue and/or organs. Specifically in this regard in relation to cancers and other diseases of the neck, head and mouth, is injury to and loss of teeth, and injury to salivary and other glands such as those relating to the sense of taste and smell, which is undesirable for many reasons.
It is thus sought to provide an appliance configured and/or adapted for placement within a body cavity, such as, but not limited to, the oral cavity, which allows removably or temporarily positioning of one or more radiation emitting elements, such as radioactive seeds, wires or the like, in precise relation to a cancer or other diseased tissue in or adjacent to the cavity, which provides shielding for other regions of healthy tissue, glands and/or organs, as well as teeth, from the radiation emitted by the radioactive element or elements. Further in this regard, it would be advantageous to provide an appliance custom configured, such as by molding, to conform to the shapes and contours of certain tissue regions defining a body cavity, so as to be positionable and automatically retained thereagainst in conforming relation thereto in a selected precise location and orientation in relation to the tissue which is to be irradiated, while providing radiation shielding for the other tissue and organs not intended to be irradiated. In such appliance, it would be advantageous to provide at least one receptacle or passage into which a therapeutic device, such as a seed or seeds, or a wire having a radioactive tip or other region, or other radioactive medium, is removably insertable, so as to be positioned for delivery of a radioactive dose in precise relation to a cancer to be irradiated for a specific time or specific therapeutic dosage.